To the Very Reverend
ARCHIMANDRITE TIKHON,
Superior of the Moscow Sretensky Stavropegic Monastery
I send my heartfelt greetings to you and all your brotherhood in Christ on this day, the fifteenth anniversary of the restoration of monastic life within the walls of Monastery of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon (Sretensky). I likewise greet the professors, teachers, and students of the Sretensky Seminary with its ten year anniversary! I prayerfully wish God’s abundant mercy and blessings upon your service to the Lord and His image, which is reflected in our neighbor.
I am very grateful to you, dear Fr. Tikhon, for your labors both in Russia and beyond its borders. The Russian Church Abroad sees in you a man who loves our Church, its history and heritage, and understands its spirit; we see in you a man who ever fights for Russian Orthodox ideals. For this you have earned deep respect and trust amongst the hierarchs, clergy, and laity of our Church.
With great appreciation for your contribution in restoring canonical communion within the Russian Orthodox Church, I pray that God’s blessing may be with you and all of your co-laborers.
With love in the Lord,
Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad